If you were to ask me, "Charlie, what is the church?" my go-to answer is that it should be a living expression of what God intended for humanity.  It means that the church is like a workshop (Ephesians 2:10*) where God's good and beautiful plan for people is being restored, one life at a time.  As the pastor of this congregation for the past 20 years, I've witnessed us take this seriously.  We are an imperfect, broken bunch of people growing into wholeness through the love and commitment we have for one another.  We make mistakes, and then learn from them...we take risks and fail, and then try again...we see someone hurting, and then reach out to help them...we discover that we've hurt someone, and then do our best to seek forgiveness and reconciliation with them.  In other words, we try to hold in loving balance the truth and grace of God's good news in all our work and relationships.  Whoever you are, and in whatever condition your life may be - there is a genuine welcome here.

                                                                                        *Ephesians 2:10  "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for 
                                                                                                                good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."